Problem With Florida Schools Is In Florida Homes

My Word

Radio comedian Stan Freeberg wrote a song in the 1960s titled ''Good Advice.'' One of the lyrics goes something like, ''Good advice costs nothing, and it's worth the price.''

The letters and opinion pages of the Sentinel have, in recent months, been full of good advice about how to improve schools, and most of it is worth the price.

We need better students! Nobody can ''teach.'' Even the best teacher can only provide an atmosphere conducive to learning for willing students. If the students are not willing to learn, the whole system fails.

I have substitute-taught several times at middle and high schools in Seminole County, consistently spending at least half of each period trying to establish order. At first, I thought it was the familiar ''He's only a sub'' attitude. But my discussions with other teachers indicated this behavior to be the rule. While the majority of the kids are bright and reasonably well-motivated, the few bad eggs disrupt classes to the point nobody can learn. I determined the solution to Florida's education problem lies in the students' homes.

Parents must take an active role in training their children to be good citizens and courteous human beings. And parents must teach manners, respect for the rights of others, moral values and self-control before the children attend public schools. Teachers cannot teach these things to 100 or more students a day. Nor should they be expected to.

There will be those who accuse me of maligning the poor, whose parents have not had the chance for an education. That excuse does not hold water. Our high schools and universities are filled with successful Asian-American students whose parents spoke little or no English when they arrived here and had no education by our standards. It does not take a learned person to motivate a child, but it does take an interested one.

So if you want to improve Florida's educational system:

- Turn off the TV and read to your child at least 30 minutes a day. This is the only way a child can learn to be entertained by books.

- Take your children to free concerts, art exhibitions and plays. They stimulate children's imaginations. You don't have to know about music, art or theater; you can make it an adventure for the both of you.

- Make the library a regular stop for the whole family on Saturdays. Get your child a library card and encourage its use.

- Teach your children to respect others. They will respond positively to their teachers and will not disrupt the efforts of peers.

- Take an active interest in academic performance. Attend parent-teacher conferences. Find out when your child will have homework and make sure it is done.

Certainly, institutional and procedural problems in schools must be solved - we need dedicated teachers and first-rate equipment. But the problems of education cannot be addressed until students are ready to learn. No federal program or targeted curriculum can do the job of interested, motivated parents. The second step in problem-solving is acknowledging that part of the problem is yours.